Tappan Zee Constructors spoke with the mayors of Hudson River towns about its plan to take down the old Tappan Zee Bridge with explosives

An announcement on when the Tappan Zee Bridge will be knocked down is expected any day. Grand View-on-Hudson Mayor Larry Lynn spoke with contractors about the plan to use explosives to take down the old span

State contractors spoke with the mayors of Hudson River towns this week about their plan to use explosives to take down the remains of the old Tappan Zee Bridge but officials still won’t say when the implosion will occur.

Last week, the Federal Highway Administration gave Tappan Zee Constructors approval to use explosive charges to knock down the remaining steel superstructure of the 62-year-old span, which engineers say is structurally unsound.

Among those who spoke with representatives of Tappan Zee Constructors, the consortium hired by the New York State Thruway Authority, was Grand View-on-Hudson Mayor Larry Lynn.

Lynn said he was assured residents of his village would not experience reverberations from the explosion.

“It’s not like they’re setting up explosions down in the bedrock,” Lynn said. “The whole thing will be over in 30 seconds. It sounds like the explosive activity is so minor there are no seismologic implications. That was my main concern.”
Riverkeeper’s John Lipscomb told The Journal News/lohud last week that explosive charges will be detonated above the surface of the water and function much like a cutting torch, creating enough heat to cause the steel to crumble into the Hudson.
Hudson River boat traffic shutdown Coast Guard officials based in New York are also awaiting word on the implosion date so they can steer boat traffic away from the span.
Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said it’s likely vessel traffic could be shut down for nearly an hour while the implosion takes place.
“Once they are set up and set to go, we’ll shut down the entirety of the river,” Strohmaier said.
Workers are preparing the eastern section of the main span of the Tappan Zee Bridge for the use of explosives to bring it down Jan. 2, 2019. The demolition is scheduled to happen sometime this month.Buy Photo

Workers are preparing the eastern section of the main span of the Tappan Zee Bridge for the use of explosives to bring it down Jan. 2, 2019. The demolition is scheduled to happen sometime this month. (Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News) In the meantime, vessel traffic has been diverted to a 300-foot channel on the western side of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the Tappan Zee.
Plans were to remove the Tappan Zee piece by piece and avoid the use of explosives that could have an impact on Hudson River fish habitats.
That changed on Sept. 7, 2018, the same day Gov. Andrew Cuomo presided over a ceremony celebrating the opening of the eastbound span of the $3.9 billion bridge named for his father.

Hours before the new span was slated to open, workers heard a loud pop come off the Tappan Zee’s steel structure. Officials determined the old bridge was structurally unsound, preventing workers from continuing with the piecemeal takedown.

It’s unclear who will carry out the demolition of the old bridge.

The last time a bridge in the New York City region was imploded was October 2017 when the Kosciuszko Bridge, a link between Brooklyn and Queens, was taken down.
Preparations are underway for the demolition of the remaining sections of the Tappan Zee Bridge
That work was performed by Controlled Demolition of Maryland, which, in addition to knocking down bridges and piers, works in Hollywood creating special effects techniques designed to simulate implosions in feature films. Among its credits are the recent “Batman: The Dark Knight” and “Lethal Weapon 3.”